Classical Numismatic Group, LLC
Electronic Auction 467 6 May 2020
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CAROLINGIANS. Charles le Chauve (the Bald). As Charles II, King of West Francia, 840-877. AR Obole (16mm, 0.64 g, 12h). Class 2. Metullo (Melle) mint. Struck 864-877. Karolus monogram / + METVLLO, cross pattée. Depeyrot 622; M&G 1060; MEC 1, 934. Some porosity. Near VF.
From the Simon Coupland Collection.
Identical oboles, or half deniers, were minted at the silver mines of Melle by both Charlemagne (between 793 and 814) and Charles the Bald (between 840 and 864). Grierson and Blackburn's Medieval European Coinage made an unfortunate error in stating that oboles were not minted by Charlemagne - even though an earlier article by Grierson had noted that they were. The matter is put beyond doubt by a hoard of Charlemagne's monogram coinage from Château-Roussillon (Ruscino) which contained a Melle obole. It is currently impossible to determine under which ruler a particular coin was minted unless it occurs in a broader datable context. [S. Coupland
From the Simon Coupland Collection.
Identical oboles, or half deniers, were minted at the silver mines of Melle by both Charlemagne (between 793 and 814) and Charles the Bald (between 840 and 864). Grierson and Blackburn's Medieval European Coinage made an unfortunate error in stating that oboles were not minted by Charlemagne - even though an earlier article by Grierson had noted that they were. The matter is put beyond doubt by a hoard of Charlemagne's monogram coinage from Château-Roussillon (Ruscino) which contained a Melle obole. It is currently impossible to determine under which ruler a particular coin was minted unless it occurs in a broader datable context. [S. Coupland